While not ones to blow our own horns (at least not all the time), it's nice to highlight when others do it for us. In just the past month or so, a bunch of Trails of History sites have appeared on lists of great places to visit, or been recognized in "best of" polls in their regions, or received certificates of excellence for their ratings on TripAdvisor. That means happy customers and we're always proud of that.

On June 6, the staff, board, and volunteers of Drake Well Museum kicked off the summer season at Historic Pithole by hosting Wildcatter Day. 2015 is the 150th anniversary of the founding of the oil boomtown at Pithole, so there were a few extra activities, including a "cake" for French Kate (famous or infamous, depending on your point of view) to jump out of. (See the Spring 2015 and upcoming Fall 2015 issues of Pennsylvania Heritage for more information on Pithole.) The Men of Ivy (AKA The Animal 8) from Muskingum College were on hand to perform their hit "Pit-Hole City" from back in the day.

Drake Well was also included in a new long-form ad by Toyota that does a nice job, in my opinion, of blending history (the birth of the oil industry) with science (using water from Oil Creek in the production of a hydrogen fuel cell). Science and tech education (STEM) integrated with the arts is now called STEAM, but I haven't seen a good acronym for when you add history. I'm open to suggestions.

The Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania has announced the arrival of Amtrak AEM7 No. 915. This is officially the youngest locomotive in the train yard. As an Amtrak commuter these past five-and-a-half years, I've probably ridden behind and in front of this one, since they're designed to both pull and push passenger trains. (Learn more via RMP's website).

A crew from the University of Maryland Anthropology Department is excavating near one of the slate pickers' houses at Eckley Miners' Village. After only two weeks they have recovered ceramics, shoes, and many other personal effects dating to Eckley's founding in the middle of the 19th century. You can follow the progress of the project (and see some really cool pictures) on the Lattimer Archaeology Project blog.